


By Moon And By Lantern

by RelativelySain



Category: AU - Fandom, Berena - Fandom, Holby City, rrcmv - Fandom
Genre: F/F, part of the Redgrave Russell Cinematic Multiverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27296122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RelativelySain/pseuds/RelativelySain
Summary: Just a story about a widowed socialite and a divorcee who meet in the night. Serena can't shake the feeling this woman is a mystery she can really sink her teeth into.
Relationships: Berena, Serena Campbell/Bernie Wolfe
Comments: 12
Kudos: 24
Collections: Holby Halloween Monster Mash 2020





	1. Lady Campbell

Lady Serena Campbell was someone who was best warned of in advance. The trouble was…finding the words to do so. She held all the poise and presence a woman with her standing should and had a command over the less fair sex that was somewhere between commendable and dangerous. But the wealthy widow had none of the demure her sex demanded of her and if the woman had ever been told no in her life…it did not show and certainly did not stand. One thing could be said with absolute certainty however: if one wanted to make a good impression on the woman all that was needed was a bottle of good Shiraz and if you were a man who found his own opinion to be too clever to miss out on then take stock of how much you let that show…or better yet try to speak as little as possible. 

A healthy supply of Shiraz had been one of the things that drew her out to the party in the first place…not that she was particularly reclusive to begin with. And what luck it did for if Serena had not come out that night she may never have been introduced to Ms. Wolfe. The woman had been a slight more shy, socially, than the women she preferred to keep company with but there was an unexpected brashness to her that drew Serena’s intrigue. To be frank, it bordered on rude more times than not and it was clear that social gatherings were the last place the woman wanted to be…but Bernie also proved to be correct and capable which may be why she asserted herself the way she did.   
  
While Serena did not seem to aggravate Ms. Wolfe as the other guests did, in contrast Serena would say they quite hit it off, every attempt to set plans to socialize with the woman in the future was met with disinterest or distraction. If Ms. Wolfe’s social mannerisms had been less abysmal Serena would have assumed she was being not-so-politely turned down but something told her it was more likely that Ms. Wolfe simply wasn’t the type to make such plans or pay the invites much attention. Lady Campbell, as it would happen, simply wasn’t the type to give up on something she wanted and a friendship with Ms. Wolfe was exactly that. 

The next few times they met socially were no coincidence as Serena was in possession of both great wit and plentiful connections. Serena was pleasantly surprised when it was Ms. Wolfe who invited _her_ to lunch. Serena had given up asking Bernie but a discussion on women overlooked by history and those who disguised themselves as men to have their work validated had led to Bernie revealing she had a collection of books in her library that she thought Serena would enjoy. When Serena had confirmed interest, Bernie invited her to lunch so they could browse the collection together. Serena had only one request, that it be an early breakfast or dinner instead. She explained she had a condition where excess light hurt her eyes and caused terrible headaches and so she preferred to only go out in as dim conditions as possible. Bernie had happily accommodated her request and they decided on the following evening, while it was still light enough to aid in the lantern light. 

Serena had timed her departure perfectly, arriving just as twilight began in a closed carriage with windows covered in decadently thick curtains. The evening went splendidly apart from one peculiarity. As they perused the shelves of Ms. Wolfe’s library, Serena made an off-handed comment about how personable Bernie was with her dogs and how her own parents would have balked at the thought of allowing their dogs inside a space like this. Bernie met her not only with a look of confusion but an outright denial that any of her three had been up to this level of the tower. Serena had to come up with a rather quick explanation for her thinking and mentioned seeing some fur around. Ms. Wolfe had accepted it well enough and suggested the cause may have simply been the fur came from her clothing. The thing was, there had been no fur and there could be no mistake: a distinctly canine scent lingered in the room. More than would carry along on someone’s clothing. This was the kind of scent that sank into surfaces from frequent canine presence…the kind they had passed on the way up. The bottom level of the tower was used for storage and housing the dogs. This was exactly the kind of scent that wafted up from the fur covered beds tucked snugly in the corner of that lower room. It seemed such a strange thing to lie about at the time.

It wasn’t until they became closer friends that Serena began to notice other peculiarities about Ms. Wolfe…that, perhaps, when put together provided their own explanation. As bad as Bernie was at making plans in advance, there was a distinct pattern of times she would avoid Serena. Like clockwork, once every month or as near as. At the beginning Serena assumed it was her monthly and Bernie just preferred privacy during it…but the thing was...it never lasted very long, three days at most, and there were other instances where she’d revealed she was on her period at a different point in the month from her intervals of avoidance . Perhaps it was the mystery of it but the more Serena tried to ignore it the more inclined she was to note it further. After some closer study, she was able to predict it’s timing with impeccable accuracy…and as the first day of Bernie’s strange phase came around again Serena leaned against the arm of her chair staring out her window into the twilight, unable to keep her mind off the mysterious blonde. In an attempt to break free of her meandering thoughts, Serena opened the book Bernie had loaned her and curled up to read as long as there was light to do so. By the time she relented to the strain on her eyes she realized the twilight had passed and the light she was using was the moon. Serena glanced out the window, as she had earlier that evening, and a thought occurred to her regarding that moon. A full moon. A lunar cycle. A night as well as a day. 

_Ms. Wolfe._

Could it really be so _direct_ as that, Serena wondered. A lantern facilitated a trip to her own library deep within the west wing of the manor…that section off limits to all servants save her lady’s maid who was only permitted to her chambers and only when summoned by the bell. It had been a while since she last read the book she had in mind and took her a few minutes to locate. In the end, she left the library with a few books in hand to read in the comfort of her bed chambers, the edges of her dress and fingertips coated in dark dust and cobwebs. Legends filled the yellowed pages. Legends of those with her own affliction and legends of those with another: the canines that, for whatever reason, could be found in the fringes of these stories. Some were servient to her kind. Others, a threat. Closing the books, Serena’s mind was set: she would prove or disprove her theory tonight before she need wait another month.


	2. Ms. Wolfe

As a child it had been easier, her strength less problematic. She could roam free in the locked room hidden above the library with her brother and parents to look out for her. Once she reached puberty however, she received her first set of manacles. 

Bernie checked over the room one final time: clean bowl of water, a bone, a ball, a dish of salted jerky and meats for the wolf, and clothes neatly folded in the chest by the bolted metal door. Placing her ring of keys into a metal box, she slid it down into the carved slot in the stone floor, just beside the stone post that marked the center of the room. It fit perfectly flush with the smallest of grip holes carved out on either side of the box...just big enough for fingertips to grip and wriggle it back out when needed. Satisfied, Bernie secured her manacles, the cold metal weighing heavily on her thin wrists, and curled up on the battered oversized cushion covered in flaxen fur. It was getting to the point in the evening where the temperature dropped and no amount of hair on end would provide the protection her bare skin needed from that chill. Wrapping her blanket tight around her shoulders to help keep out the cold, she inhaled the calming scent of the pillow: she left it unwashed as long as it was hygienic to do so for just this reason. Picking up her book, she read for a while by the sunlight trickling through the high window. All too quickly the sun fell behind the horizon and she tucked the book under the pillow and huddled in wait. 

The change was always painful. It wasn’t sharp like a cut…more of a throbbing in every muscle. The ache started dull in her joints the morning of and progressively worsened. Bernie stretched and stretched for the slightest bit of relief. Under the light of the full moon, when it finally reached her, Bernie’s muscles clenched and spasmed until she crawled out of her own skin, fur damp and matted with blood. Once the pain subsided and she had the energy, the wolf licked her coat clean. The trouble that came between the change and the reversion was keeping the wolf from getting too bored…bored wolves had a tendency to cause trouble...make noise, damage things or themselves…or worst case scenario: escape. 

The wolf played around her enclosure, chasing the ball and trying to burn off some energy. The ball eventually bounced its way just out of her circle of reach. Her whines echoed off the cold stone as she lay on her stomach, claws scraping at the floor and snout sweeping as far forward as it could but the ball was lost to her. She slumped, tail dropping to the ground and blowing up loose fur. After a few seconds her ears perked up to listen to the bounce of her ball, head jerking to the side in time to watch it roll back towards her. Scrambling over the stone floor, she grabbed the ball in her mouth, chewing as her tail swept the floor happily. Ball firmly in jaw, she turned now towards where the ball had been earlier: nothing. A twitch of her ears as she heard something moving and her head began to tilt up. A bat fluttered in the air of her chamber. The ball dropped, forgotten as Bernie crouched and her eyes zeroed in on the creature. Muscles readying, strong back paws pressed hard off the floor as she leapt into the air only to snap her teeth a few feet short of the bat, front wrists sore from the yank of the chains when she reached their end. It was too high up for her to reach at the moment…the wolf would wait. Wait for the bat to get brave…get foolish and venture within her range of movement. She stalked it around the edge of her circle.

Through the night the bat continued darting in towards the wolf, around and around the room the two continued their game…but the bat always managed to escape Bernie’s heavy paws and sharp bite. Bernie found herself pleasantly worn out as dark began to lift, warning of the approaching sunrise. Panting with heavy eyes from the spot she lay, she watched as the bat returned to the window and left the wolf to rest. A few loud laps from her water dish before Bernie padded over to her cushion, staking out a few circles on top before slumping down and drifting off to a dreamless sleep.

It was a gnawing in her stomach that eventually woke her. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, Bernie stretched over the cushion as her eyes adjusted to the brightness…around midday from the looks of it. She lay staring blankly at the ceiling in disbelief for a moment. She’d completely slept through her reversion. Bernie couldn’t remember a time she had ever done that…she hadn’t even thought it possible. Surely the pain would have, _should have_ , woken her?


	3. The Truth Will Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What followed could only be described as an obscenity by any mortal with moral fiber...creatures of nightmares twisted together in an unholy union of flesh and breath. (insert that Marina and the Diamonds meme here)

Bernie’s scream echoed around the stones, hands clenching the blanket tighter as a blush heated her cheeks down to the collarbones peeking out from the woolen blanket.    
  
She stared, heart frozen in her throat and dark eyes stretched wide, at the poised woman now stood with her in the locked room. As if it wasn’t bad enough having someone in here…the threat of them finding out the truth…the even greater threat of the wolf tearing them to pieces…add to that the myriad of questions flooding her mind now. How had she gotten into the room? What was she doing here? Why did she look so calm even as Bernie sat huddled naked under a blanket, chained on the floor in a locked tower? Serena, it would seem, was gracious enough to put an end to Bernie’s tormented silent gawping.    
  
“Good evening Bernie. I really must remember to visit earlier in the future…” She cooed with a playful grin, eyes traveling over Bernie’s covered form which brought a fresh wave of heat coursing up from the blonde. “I thought I may be better company in this form…un..unless you prefer the bat of course…” The last bit was tacked on in an uncharacteristically nervous fashion that would be quite adorable if Bernie’s brain wasn’t spinning in circles trying to make sense of this. 

After a few seconds, Bernie replied with the careful and slightly slowed response, “You…are the bat?” Serena’s smirk tweaked further up at one corner and a brow lifted as if to say ‘of course, wasn’t it obvious?’ Bernie’s brow furrowed as she stared down at the pillow and fumbled over finding what to say next. Serena once again interjected in a helpful tone.

“Why don’t we start with the basics and work our way through the rest of your questions after? You’re a werewolf. I’m a vampire. I have no intention of revealing your secret any more than I have of revealing mine. I will admit, you…are the first werewolf I’ve met. Bit ironic the name, isn’t it?”

Bernie looked up again, staring silently a few more seconds before responding. “I’m sorry, what?”   
  
“Your surname? Wolfe: a little on the nose.”   
  
“As opposed to Baker for a family of bakers?”

“Does it run in families? I thought one had to attack -- ”

Bernie rolled her eyes and cut Serena short. “That’s just a story people tell their children to scare them…I’m not  _ contagious _ . Wolves are born like this. How…how did you know, what I was that is?”

“Just a hunch really…you always disappear during the full moon. Couldn’t resist the mystery of it I guess.”   
  
Bernie messed with the blanket in her fists, eyes leaving Serena as she replied matter-of-factually. “So…now you know.”

The shortness of the reply caught Serena off balance a bit. “Uh, yes. Suppose I do.”

“You should get going now that your curiosity is sated…the moon will be out soon. As entertaining a show as you may think it will be, it really isn’t worth the risk. And…to be perfectly honest, I’m not crazy about the idea of being tonight’s freak show.”

Serena’s eyes widened and she shook her head, reaching for Bernie as she took a step forward. “No, I didn’t – ”

A hand appeared from under Bernie’s blanket to motion for Serena to stop her advance. “It’s fine…just stay back please. I don’t want to hurt you.” The sharp tone of the first two words indicated it most certainly was not but the remainder of Bernie’s words held genuine concern.

Serena stepped back from the circle. “Bernie, I didn’t come here for a show. I…I thought you could use some company…if you’re going to be locked up here all night regardless. You won’t hurt me.” Part of that last reassurance was from Serena’s confidence in escaping the wolf’s reach and part was due to a gut feeling that Bernie wouldn’t bring her harm. 

Bernie didn’t look all that convinced. “Serena…”

“If it helps, I can stay over here, turned away while you change? I don’t want to just leave you chained up here on your own…”

Bernie breathed in, visibly searching for reasons to give why Serena shouldn’t stay but in the end sighed and relented, “Alright then, I give up. You can stay…OUTSIDE the circle.”   
  
Serena grinned in warm excitement and gave a small nod. “Deal. Did…did you prefer I change as well?” 

Bernie shrugged. “Up to you…”

“Well this form can give pets –”

“OUTSIDE the circle.”

“Fine, fine...though hands do make playing fetch with you much easier.”   
  
Bernie’s cheeks, which had finally started to calm re-rouged. “I don’t fetch…I retrieve.” 

A laugh slipped out before Serena could catch the rest of her laughter, brow rising suggestive of her unspoken challenge on that statement.   
  
Bernie curled in slightly with a shiver that ran from one end of her body to the next, face tightening in discomfort.   
  
“Bernie…” Serena started, concern in her voice as she kept herself from stepping forward again. 

“I’m alright…the moon…is rising. It will be at the window soon.”   
  
Serena looked up to the window, no trace of the orb that she could find. She spoke again once she looked back at Bernie. “Is there anything I can do?”

Bernie shook her head, gritting her teeth and eyes clenched shut. Serena took a breath and moved back against the wall before managing to pull her eyes away from her friend. The real hard part was keeping them away once the sounds began: the squelch of flesh ripping and sliding away, the growls of human pain shifting into a canine howl. Serena’s nails dug painfully into her palm as she forced herself to wait until the noises stopped. Taking a steadying breath, she moved her gaze back to the center of the room where a large and pale wolf lay sprawled and panting with tired eyes.   
  
Poor Bernie, Serena thought. She wanted more than anything to go over and stroke her head to provide some comfort to the spent wolf. Bernie hardly looked the picture of dangerous predator at the moment. Serena was faster than any human…fast enough to escape a tired out wolf, surely. Cautiously, she crossed the edge of the circle, approaching Bernie head on. 

“Oh dear, that did not look fun. Time for a bit of a rest I imagine” – Serena cooed as she tested out step after step. Bernie’s eyes followed her but not a chin, nor, paw, nor tail was lifted. When her extended hand was about a foot or two away from Bernie’s snout, the wolf’s lip curled up with a soft warning growl. Serena paused a moment. – “I’m not going to hurt you Bernie. Is it alright if I…?” 

Serena inched forward again not actually touching Bernie’s fur. The growling stopped and Serena waited until Bernie relaxed. The wolf’s eyes moved away as loose fur blew up and away from the puff of air expelled from her snout. Gently, Serena stroked along the top of the wolf’s head and as they got more comfortable with one another gave her a little scritch behind the ear. Serena sat beside the wolf and pet her until Bernie stood with a shake of her fur. Serena watched, prepared to dash if needed but Bernie only stretched out her back, tail high in the air, before padding over to eat some of the snacks she had set out for herself. The night went without incident and once the sun threatened to arrive, Serena left the wolf snoozing contentedly on her pillow. 

* * *

After the secret was no longer between them, the two became even closer friends. If one was encountered socially it was a secure bet the other was by her side. They took to taking holidays together or weekends at Serena’s estate. They brought laughter and sharp wit everywhere they went. 

It was Serena who noted it first. A dinner much like the many before it...they’d decided to make a picnic of it on a rug on the floor of Bernie’s library. Good wine, food for Bernie, and only the best conversation. Nothing out of the ordinary but Bernie’s smile had lit up more than just her face as candlelight shone golden through her curls. It flamed a warmth from within Serena and stunted her breath…at the sheer beauty of the woman. Serena would not name the feeling inside her jealousy nor even admiration…Serena felt no stronger compulsion in that moment than to be lost in the kiss of her dearest friend. Serena was drawn to Bernie in a way she had never before encountered with another woman...and it made her nerves flutter into what she could only call sheer adolescent idiocy. The confident prowess: gone. In her place a nervous, stuttering schoolgirl stumbling over words because Bernie’s lips and fingers proved too distracting to cope.    
  
Bernie took longer to recognize what was quickly growing between them. Perhaps because she was afraid to admit it was more than friendship…afraid to lose another friend to her own indecisive inclinations: the way she had lost Alex. She had wanted the stable woman but been unable to commit to the risk that brought. She’d never told Alex what she was…hell she managed to keep it from Marcus for twenty plus years. When her children were old enough, she taught them how to protect their secret. She didn’t see them much after the divorce…or many of the friends she had thought were loyal to both her husband and herself. It didn’t bother her as much as she considered it probably should. She didn’t mind being left to her own devices in her ancestral home, left with the autonomy to run her life as she saw fit. She had taken up a profession as much for the enrichment it brought her as for the income it provided for her accounts. She liked her life the way it was and her friendship with Serena the way it was. Lonely thoughts plaguing her as she tossed and turned in bed were not worth risking that. 

Still, the tension between them grew into something undeniable. Sparks between glances and the brush of fingertips…the pull that lead to shoulders leaned against each other and smiles that could not be dampened despite the ache in their cheeks. 

In the weeks that followed, Serena tried to convince Bernie of the benefits that the change could bring her if she learned to control it: power, speed, increased sense of smell and hearing. Bernie insisted her way was the safest and there was nothing enjoyable about the experience. It was nothing but a curse.

* * *

All was as it should be. Sturdy locks in place and what comfort she could find provided in advance. Just another night…but Bernie’s mind could find no focus on her book this evening. Instead her gaze kept drifting up towards the window, tracing the path of the light as the sun set. The moon rise was scheduled to be earlier this time of year and she could see it as it crept along its arched path behind the clouds in the rose and lavender dusted sky. She felt the approach beforehand of course and had no real reason to keep looking towards the small window above…unless of course it wasn’t really the moon she was keeping watch for.   
  
After the change, she curled up panting over the floor and eyes drifting back up towards the window under surprisingly expressive furry brows. It took a few minutes to catch her breath and for her muscles to relax before she began to clean herself up. Bernie’s ears pricked up, head quickly following as she heard her approach. This time Bernie caught sight of the bat as she fluttered down, a haze following her through the window and refracting the dim light around her as Serena transformed back midair. She hovered just above the ground, smiling warmly at Bernie who beamed back up at her, tail wagging.    
  
“Sorry I’m late, had a spot of bother with household arrangements before I could leave.”

And so they settled into the routine they had developed. Serena first talked about her day then moved on to a bit of reading aloud by moonlight. Bernie watched her, chin resting in Serena’s lap, and thought one of the vampire’s gifts must surely be bewitching people…because Serena’s beauty was unworldly. The moonlight seemed to search her out, illuminating unblemished skin and soft curves covered in only the finest of fabrics. Bernie had lost track of the actual story being read…and was grateful it would be difficult to tell in her current state. 

Oh. Serena stopped reading and had turned to Bernie. Bernie tensed in anticipation, unsure what she had missed but then Serena gave her the most heart melting of smiles and Bernie felt her own smile forming, tail giving a few strong thrashes before she buried her muzzle further under Serena’s thigh to hide from that smile.    
  
“Careful where you –“ Serena’s sentence broke with a soft gasp as she smiled down at the wolf who had prodded just high enough, wet nose trailing along the exposed skin of her thigh under the skirt folds that had cinched up over her bent knees. Bernie’s head turned further towards Serena as she peered up curiously, soft muzzle brushing even further up Serena’s thigh. Serena had no blood to warm her cheeks beneath the fake rouge she painted on at the start of each night: no pounding heartbeat to announce her reaction to that touch but her breath stuttered and stopped altogether as her eyes fluttered shut. When she was not talking or presenting around humans, Serena did not need to breathe and for a moment she truly did resemble the dead thing she was. Bernie’s concerned whining and prodding with her nose reminded her to breathe as she opened her eyes again. This time her gaze was dark and lidded. What followed could only be described as an obscenity by any mortal with moral fiber...creatures of nightmares twisted together in an unholy union of flesh and breath.    
  


When twilight lightened the sky the unchained wolf, breathing calmly from where she was strewn across Serena’s lap, began to shift. Her muscles spasmed under rippling fur but no howls of agony came this time. Within a quarter of an hour, the small frame of a sleeping woman lay tucked beneath the bloody pelt. Serena carefully pulled it away from her head, stroking through the matted blonde curls, not bothered by the blood. Glancing around, Serena slipped from beneath Bernie, movements quiet and graceful as if she were but air itself. Bernie had left some rags and a bucket of water along the wall and clothing in a chest. Pulling away the pelt, Serena tenderly cleaned and dressed the blonde before covering them both with the blanket and cradling Bernie in her lap. Here they stayed until the sky began to grow too bright. The sun would be above the horizon soon. 

“Bernie, daylight is on it’s way I’m afraid...I can’t stay any longer.”

Bernie shifted, sleep sealed eyes opening as she looked up at Serena with sad brows. “I...I do have curtains in...in my bedroom...that is if...if you wanted to save yourself the trip.”

“Tempting as that is...I really can’t have any light coming through. Do you think they’ll be thick enough?”

“I can throw some blankets over the canopy to help if they aren’t…”

Serena couldn’t help the sappy grin as she stared down at Bernie’s face, so hopeful and groggy. “Alright.” She conceded in a quieter voice. Her heart expanded at Bernie’s resulting grin. Bernie moved to get up but Serena stopped her, picking her up bridal style as Serena stood...well hovered over the floor. Bernie’s cheeks coloured nicely over the action with a small gasp as her arms found their place, looped around Serena’s shoulders and neck. 

“Serena...I  _ can _ walk.”

“Why walk when you can fly?”    
  
The trip down the tower was certainly quicker but on exiting the tower, Serena ascended higher into the sky which was right about the time Bernie’s grip fastened vice-like around her with a malcontent, “Serena….” To which Serena merely smiled and continued on her path to the large double window outside Bernie’s room. When she paused at the closed glass, Bernie growled from where she had buried her face in Serena’s neck, “What are you waiting for?”   
  
“I need you to invite me in.”

“I thought I already...fine, whatever gets me down. Go in already. ”

“Thank you.” Serena chirped as the windows slammed open towards the wall, the curtains billowing out into the room. She alighted gently on the floor just in front of the open window and walked the remaining distance to lower Bernie onto the bed. 

“Next time...can we maybe just take the stairs?” Serena’s laughter tittered about the room as she returned to the window to close the glass and draw the curtains. 

Once the room had been properly fortified against the sun, Serena curled up next to Bernie in bed. She stirred some time later as she felt Bernie trying to sneak out of bed. 

“Where are you going?” She slurred still half asleep, turning to look at the blonde at the door. 

“Just grabbing a bite to eat...I’ll be right back, go back to sleep.”    
  
Serena couldn’t help doing just that...turning over again and nuzzling into the pillows that smelled of Bernie. So fast asleep was she that she didn’t notice when Bernie returned. It was dim in the room, a few lanterns lit, when Serena finally started to wake properly. She found Bernie sitting in bed reading.   



	4. Epilogue

During the week, the two had very little time spent awake together however whenever Bernie was not working or during the days surrounding a full moon, Bernie would stay up all night with Serena and sleep late into the day. It was never enough time but they were grateful for every second. 

The cobbled streets were busy tonight, filled with the sound of carriage wheels bounding over the uneven road and the clack of heeled shoes through the thrum of conversation. Tonight's festivities were much anticipated by all those of any import in the city and would be well packed. Serena flicked her fan open on the way to their own carriage, Bernie by her side as had become custom, only to find the decorative fabric had torn. Allowing herself a frustrated sigh, she rolled her eyes and tossed it aside. As she alighted the first step alongside the carriage she felt the air shift and turned to watch as Bernie left her side to go pick up the discarded fan and return it to Serena. Serena stared blankly a few seconds until Bernie asked, “What? You dropped this…”

Serena couldn’t stop her face from reflecting her amusement and affection over the adorable idiosyncrasies of her girlfriend before explaining she had thrown it out. Bernie blushed in response with a soft, “Oh, right...sorry. Should I…?” Bernie trailed off as she pointed back to where she’d picked it up but Serena simply took the fan from her and tossed it back over Bernie’s shoulder. Serena took the remaining steps to enter the carriage and seat herself, watching Bernie through the open door. Bernie took hold of the carriage and stepped up but stopped herself on the steps. The blonde couldn’t do it. Turning, Bernie ran to pick the fan up once more. She returned with a sheepish expression before ducking into the carriage, eyes downcast, as she murmured about disposing of it properly. Serena merely beamed happily and as the door clicked shut, leaving them in the darkness of the carriage, she leaned across to where Bernie sat to show her exactly what she thought of the woman.

  



End file.
